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Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Alphabet Box - Part II (& Giveaway!)

As promised, here's Part II to The Alphabet Box. In this post I'll share how we use our box for learning & fun and I'll also have a giveaway at the end. :)

When I first introduced the drawers to James, I focused on one drawer at a time. I'd lay out all the objects on a mat and as I called out the name of each object I'd emphasize the sound of the letter, (e.g. "this is a ssssnake"). James would repeat the names after me and after we'd gone through each object I'd say, "All of these objects begin with the sound 's'."

After James had learned a handful of sounds, I put together a few games. The first was a "Seek and Find" game. I'd randomly place all the objects from 2-3 drawers on the mat and ask him to find an object that began with one of the letters. He'd find it and line it up under the appropriate letter.

James' favorite game is the "Please Bring Me" game. I place some objects (from two trays) on a shelf across the room and ask James to bring to me something that begins with the "t" sound (for example). When he brings back with the correct object I ask him to name it. I confirm the name and making note of the sound, e.g. "Yes, that's a tree. Can you hear the "t" sound in the word 'tree'?"

Another fun game to play with the alphabet box is "I Spy". I put several objects from various drawers on a tray and I'll say, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with the "b" sound." James will then find the object and name it.

Once we start working with our sandpaper letters, my intent is to combine the objects and letters together.This is really just a variation to the "seek and find" game. The difference being that we'd be working with 10-12 letters at a time and that James will first trace and say the sound of the letter and then he'll need to find the object that matches that sound. The challenge is that there are many more objects and letters to choose from. This activity also has a sensory element to it (touching the sandpaper).

Now for the giveaway!{I'm so excited about this and I hope you are, too!}

I think the alphabet box is such a fantastic learning tool and I truly believe all homeschoolers and teachers should have one. I've given you tips and ideas on how to create your own, but I'd love to help you even more. So, I'm going to give away to one person all of the following...

~Letter cards in both upper and lowercase and ONE object for each letter~

(Note: objects are exactly as shown above and the coins are Bermudian currency.)

You'll have 6 chances to win - simply leave me one comment per day until the end of the giveaway, which is at midnight (ADT) on July 29th. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere! (Yes, that includes you, my lovely reader in Qatar.) :)

** Please be sure to include your email address if it's not public in your profile!! **

oh my goodness!!! This is like the best giveaway :) I'm excited about it too...and that's even if I don't win! I have enjoyed both posts on the Alphabet Box and I am on the lookout for objects so I can start one. Have a great day!

I love it!! I wish I could find a box here. I know Egg knows most of this, but there is nothing wrong with just doing it for fun. I like your sandpaper letters too, where did you get them, are the wooden?

Wow! What a generous giveaway Mari-Ann. I used the pieces from a game I had for our letter drawers. Some of our drawers were empty, but Bear learned all her sounds so fast that she got bored of the alphabet drawers fast. Now we use the pieces for storytelling (she chooses some and we make up stories about them). You can see our alphabet drawers hereI've collected a few miniatures, but I really need more as I want J-jo to have little objects as opposed to the two dimensional thick pieces. I love yours. Can't wait to come back and comment tomorrow!

Oh, I would love to be entered for this! I am a homeschool mom. My 2 year old (he will be 3 next month) I am going to start teaching him his ABC's, he already has learned the ABC song & is anxious to learn his ABC! I think your giveaway would be awesome to use as a teaching tool!Maybe another way this can be used it as a scavenger hunt game! Hide the pieces around the room, give the child the letter card and have them look for the piece that goes with it that matches the 1st letter of the word!

Thank you - what an awesome giveaway!Nicolehttp://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/

I love the alphabet box. Where do you find all the little objects, like an astronaut and the axe? Have you been on the look out whenever your out or did you go to one place that sells stuff like that? Thinking a cake decorating store or party store.

Two things:1. THANK YOU for all the amazing ideas. I had no idea there was so much you could do with these cute little objects!2. THANK YOU for offering such a GENEROUS giveaway!!! Wow you are so sweet!! I'm crossing my fingers and toes. :)

I've been wanting to put together a true box...we use items around the house and then put them back where they belong. So, we don't have specific items just for a true box. This is a great way to get started. Thank you so much for hosting such a great giveaway!

Ahh, fabulous! Really really fabulous. As a working moma (for the time being) this would be a priceless joy to add to our home learning space (and save so many hours of searching for the objects!). Fabulous. And thanks, as always, for the inspiration!

What an awesome giveaway! I LOVE this idea, and I'm so stealing it whether I win or not... LOVE all of your posts actually although I can never figure out this comment thig enough to post (if this is my second post i am SOOOO sorry... my first didnt show up so I thought I'd try it again...)

okay so this post showed me a few things I could do still with Sammy on these! Thanks for the email with the other information as well. I think I am going to start collecting things for the boxes :-) I would love to win this it would def. help me get started!!

I would love to win this for my girls! You're blog is really great. I get some wonderful ideas from you that I use with my kids. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas....what a gift to are giving to moms!solson35 @hotmail.com

Ok ok, I'm excited and I am going to be back to comment again. I would love to win your giveaway. I am really loving the little apple, ax, wagon. And I think thats a vase and if it is that would be even better because "v" and "x" are hard letters to find.

Thanks for the ideas of how to use the alphabet box and the great giveway! I would love to make one for my daughter, since I feel like I don't create enough new stuff just for her (she gets big brothers stuff :)

What a great giveaway. I found your blog not to long ago and went back and read from the beginning. I so wish I had found something like this when my kid were younger. But even at the age of 4 I can incorporate some of these great ideas and I have passed your blog on to many people with young children. Thank you for taking the time to share these things with us!

Wow. I'm so glad I stumbled across your blog via 1+1+1=1. This idea is fantastic for my 31 month old son, Ben. He loves all his letter sounds, but it hasn't yet clicked to associate the sounds with words. I think filling an Alphabet Box with things that truly delight him will assist him in making that connection.

Thank you for the inspiration and tips. I can't wait to find some time to look around the rest of your lovely blog.

second entry for me! I really need these, as I started teaching another child preschool as well as my daughter. The first thing he wanted to work on was the alphabet cabinet! And he was so disappointed when I only had a few boxes complete for him to explore!

Sounds like you do a great job teaching your little one in fun ways! I enjoy working with my grandchildren and this summer am doing a little homeschooling with them. I would love to win your giveaway. My granddaughter is learning her sounds. Thanks for your generosity.

Day #3 :) I was at Michael's Craft store yesterday and they had a large display of mini erasers near the registers. They were perfect for the ABC box (besides the fact that they were $1 a piece). But, it gave me the idea to look in shops in china town, etc...

What great ideas! We are doing an alphabet adventure with our 3 boys this summer. I am excited to add these ideas to our mix! I just started reading your blog & am excited to read through the old post...we have already started gathering goods to make the spinny spellers! Thanks for you willingness to share all that fun going on in your house, it is way too good to keep to yourself!!

What a great idea! I'd love to win,I have a little guy who is almost 5 but has some neurological issues so it is much harder from him to learn. Even if I don't win, I will be using your ideas. Thanks for sharing.

This is my June 27th entry. Did you know I'm hoping to get a couple of students for the Fall for an in home preschool so Bear can have some company for school? I'm going to start my training soon and am so excited:)

Another way I would use this AWESOME giveaway if I won would be to:use the ABC's in order & OUT of order and have my son (he will be 3 7/27) match the toy pieces up to the letters. I want him to learn his ABC's in order & know them also by placing a letter tile down and asking him what letter it is & having him match the toy piece up.

If I won, another way I would use this awesome giveaway is for instance for A, I could hold up the alligator, emphasize on the ah sound and have my son match the card up by the sound of the 1st letter of the toy!

Shoot, I've been out of town! I would love to win this - we can't afford preschool next year for our little girl, so we're trying to create our own at home. This would be such an amazing jumpstart to our whole alphabet theme! Thanks for the opportunity.

Comment #5... Wow, it's getting down to the wire. Very cool. I just made a list of objects for all 37 Zhuyin Fuhao that I will attempt to find miniatures of soon. A lot of thought goes into a project like this. Thanks for this giveaway!

Hello...Happy Monday...Entry Number 5 for me..I am becoming obsessed with this project...I have decided that I will in fact use the boxes instead of the pouches that I thought I might...as I have found the perfect spot on my shelf for the Alphabet Box...also, I just wanted to add that Lindsay's entries of the food keep making me hungry....Until tomorrow...have a great rest of the day!!!

Good Morning :) I have to admit I am kind of sad that the giveaway is going to be over...it has been fun coming and seeing what everyone comes back to say...seriously a great idea for the giveaway...I hope you enjoy your day...it is supposed to be nice here- like 90 ish....so this is my 6th entry...

I have just found your blog and am SO inspired. I am a hs mom of 5 (16,12,4,2.5 and 1) and cannot wait to use a couple of your activity trays with my little ones! Thanks for sharing. YOUR BLOG IS AWESOME>>>>

If I would this giveaway I would use the letter tiles, I would put a word together and then have my 5 year old write it out to practice his spelling & handwriting. Especially his lowercase letter, he prefers to write in all caps, this would be helpful for him!

Wow I came across you site Today and I just Love it! I'm a Preschool teacher looking for great New Ideas to keep my little ones intrseted. I'll be Looking at this site everyday! Thanks for the Wonderful Ideas.. Also This Alphabet Sound Box is so Cool and Would be a wonderful thing for the Classroom Thanks for blogging about it. God Bless you and your family:)

I love how you have used individual drawers for each letter. I have previously used a set of 5 drawers that were divided and lettered inside, but this is less overwhelming to the user. Hope to win the giveaway to use with my kiddos!

Your alphabet box posts are wonderful! Such great directions for both making and using the boxes! I linked to them at Living Montessori Now in my post for the July Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival. http://livingmontessorinow.com/2010/07/18/learning-to-read-can-be-just-fun-game/

Mari-Ann! Since I didn't win your fabulous giveaway, I made one and my kids are LOVING it!! Another game we have been using is what I am calling "Common Thread"- I pull out one tray or several items that are for example blue or shiny or soft- and I ask the kids what all of the items have in common. Not sure how old your little one is but my 5 year old is loving this one! Many blessings, Kellye

i am a mom with two small children (3yo and1yo) and recently moved to Turkey where homeschooling is illegal but plan to do as much as I can. Just starting to plan and gather resources though they seem few and far between. Your site has been amazing and I can't wait to spend the next few hours perusing... Not to mention the next few years. Looking forward to all the wisdom you provide, learning from and with you!With thanks, Jenny